We are pleased to send you warm wishes at this wonderful time of year, when we are coming to the end of our busiest period (and looking ahead to the new year stock-takes!), and attempting to take a well-earned break over the Festive season.
It has been a rollercoaster year for all at Clydebuilt Business Solutions, as we continue to take great pleasure in having you all as customers, providing you with our products throughout the year, and also introducing you to our new Android Barcode Scanning system in more recent months.
Midway through the year, however, we were dealt a great blow with the loss of our colleague and friend, Stephen McIntyre, following a lengthy illness. Our customers will know Stephen well, and he is sadly missed by us all. We will especially remember him at this time of year, and look back fondly at the times we spent together.
As is standard practice each year, our offices will be closed between Christmas and New Year, closing at 5:30pm on the 23rd December and re-opening at 9:00am on 4th January. Any urgent requests during this period should be made via the usual support email or at our support contact page here.
Upon our return in the New Year the work will continue as always, as we look to continue our planned site visits and further work on our next generation TMS and WMS systems to run alongside the new Android scanning. Those Android installations will also continue, as we look to bring you all up to date with the latest scanning technologies.
Before then, there is just one thing left to do and that is to wish every single one of you all the best for Christmas and the New Year. We hope you all have a great time and we will see you in 2023 for another bumper 12 months!
Previous blogs have discussed the need for a Warehouse Management System and the points to consider when selecting that WMS. In between these discussions we also introduced our new Android Barcode Scanning system that aims to help in modernising your operation.
These articles can point you in the right direction in terms of implementing an up-to-date, modern, efficient warehouse, and that is something we will look at today: how you can bring all these things together to provide exactly what YOU require.
Talk of smart warehouses has been big in recent times, particularly as the last few years have seen a change in the way we all work, and a change in the demands that businesses face in all industries, not just logistics. However, with the rise of online working and shopping, and an “everything now” culture, speed and regular order updates have never been more important.
This is where using the latest technology comes in and the ability to be at the forefront of the industry, keeping ahead of the competition by implementing a streamlined and more efficient operation. There are several key steps, most of which we have covered already, and if you follow these your warehouse will be well on the way to becoming the best version of itself.
The number one priority for being “smarter” has to be implementing a Warehouse Management System. This will help increase your stock accuracy and consolidate all your data into one location, showing all your working, providing instantly accessible reports and helping you to plan ahead for the days, weeks, month, and even years, to come.
On top of the WMS, you will then want to add a barcode scanning solution, offering real-time updates to the placement and removal of stock in the system, increasing efficiency and helping ensure an accurate inventory. Not only will this help the system run more smoothly but the savings in time will ultimately lead to a happier and more productive workforce.
With a scanning solution running alongside a WMS, there should be “a place for everything and everything in its place”, as Benjamin Franklin is reported to have once said. You can use reporting to rank the items that are picked the most and the locations that are visited the most to put in place pickfaces to optimise picking operations.
Working alongside the barcoding and WMS, your warehouse will benefit from the addition of automated processes, further increasing efficiencies and future-proofing your operations. The scanning tools are an essential part of this, suggesting locations and picking paths, making picking faster, more accurate, and reducing human error. Communication modules can then update integrations and keep customers and suppliers informed of progress, and completed operations, with minimal user interaction.
A good Warehouse Management System and associated processes will allow your warehouse to develop and grow, evolving with the technology. A supplier who can work with your staff, and allow you to work together with your customers – current and prospective – in order to evolve and be more efficient and productive is a key element in developing and maintaining that “smart” warehouse.
The technologies we provide at Clydebuilt Business Solutions can certainly help you meet the steps and requirements set out in this short guide. If you wish to find out how Clydebuilt can help you fulfil your ambitions for a smart warehouse, you can send us a message, or give us a call on our usual phone number, as found here.
Introducing Android Barcode Scanning For Your Warehouse
PUBLISHED 14 APRIL 2022
Introducing Android Barcode Scanning for Your Warehouse
At Clydebuilt Business Solutions we pride ourselves on always looking to fully commit to any projects we undertake and do things properly. We will never release a product prematurely, ahead of it being ready, and our customers will only ever receive software when we are convinced that it meets both ours and their own high standards.
With that in mind, we are proud to announce that we have reached a further milestone in our product development, one that we have been actively working on for quite a while now in a bid to reach the levels that we constantly strive for. For many years our partners and their clients have used our Barcode Scanning Processes alongside the LocateIT WMS with a variety of different Operating Systems and devices. Most recently they have been using Windows Mobile and CE devices with the very highest degree of customer satisfaction consistently reported, helped by stock accuracies of up to 99.998% and the complete removal of manual data entry.
However, as with all industries, Logistics must move with the times and with Microsoft no longer actively supporting these Operating Systems, meaning that there will no longer be updates, fixes and security patches, we have been actively working on the next generation of our acclaimed scanning software. While we, as a service provider, will still provide support and updates for our existing client base for the products they have with us, we are now offering the opportunity to switch to a new platform, offering the ability to future proof your business, and seamlessly upgrade your system as the new and the old can be fully integrated to provide a more gradual change.
What we are talking about here is the chance to switch to our newest Android devices, a product that is already fully functioning in some of our customers’ UK Warehouses as you read this. Android is currently used by billions of people across the globe, on smartphones, tablets and many other mobile devices, it is the operating system that the majority of warehouse operatives will be most familiar with already; this makes it the obvious choice to install in your facility, given the lower cost of training that will be involved, not to mention its more modern and advanced capabilities.
This ease of use and familiarity will not only lead to a stress-free transition, but it will enhance productivity, while the wider range of available devices will allow you to tailor your hardware purchases to meet the particular requirements of your users. And it will also allow for a more secure warehouse environment, with regular updates and security patches that will be missed with the discontinuation of Microsoft’s support of the existing Windows Mobile devices.
As was previously mentioned, the changeover to Android need not be a headache, the processes are capable of running alongside our existing products, and if it’s a brand-new installation then our comprehensive training will have you up and running in no time. If you already have our scanning software then you should be able to adapt to the new processes in an instant, and you will notice that all the same familiar items are available and the menus will list the expected ‘Goods In’, ‘Put Away’, ‘Move’, ‘Pick’, etc, etc.
We feel that this is a step forward that all our customers, both existing and new, should be looking to make, and Clydebuilt will support you fully as you do. The new scanning software will not only allow you to carry on from where you are, with minimal disruption, but it will greatly benefit your warehouse and staff both immediately and in the future. So, should you wish to find out more about this exciting new product, please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 0141 847 1920 or contact us via email here.
The festive closure period will be from 24th December 2022 till the 3rd January 2023 inclusive. Re-opening at 0900 on 4th January 2023. Urgent requests for support during this period can be madehere.
